Need help with “optimize iPhone storage” consequences

Does your camera still shoot high quality photos, once the “optimize iPhone storage” for photos is enabled?

thank you

iPhone 11 Pro Max

Posted on Oct 10, 2020 5:36 AM

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6 replies

Oct 10, 2020 5:50 AM in response to Ziggie_81

Yes.


That only affects how the photos are stored on your device.


The full quality photo will first be on your iPhone once you take a photo. then when it is uploaded to iCloud the iPhone will just keep an optimized photo on your device saving storage, the full quality picture will still be available in iCloud. And will be brought back to the iPhone if you need it.


Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

If you turn on Optimize Storage, iCloud Photos automatically manages the size of your library on your device. Your original photos and videos are stored in iCloud and space-saving versions are kept on your device. Your library is optimized only when you need space, starting with the photos and videos you access least. You can download the original photos and videos over Wi-Fi or cellular when you need them. You can use Optimize Storage on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.

Oct 10, 2020 6:34 AM in response to Ziggie_81

Some things to consider when going for an "optimised" iCloud Photos Library on your iPhone or iPad.

It will depend on your amount of storage on the device, your internet connection, your patience if you will enjoy it. And it may not be feasible for you, if you frequently away from the internet.


Because some photos will be optimised, you will only be able to use them if you are having a reliable and fast internet connection, when you want to use them. It can be hard when commuting or on long distance flights, or in any area with a poor internet connection or abroad, when internet access is expensive.

Because we cannot control, which photos will remain stored locally or get optimised, you may find yourself occasionally unable to access a photo that you want to use. This may be embarrassing, if it are business documents, that you cannot access.


You have to plan ahead, how large you want to let the iCloud Photos Library grow. The local storage on your iPhone will be the bottle neck, determining how many photos you can afford to have in iCloud. On my iPhone with the smallest storage the optimised versions are having a size of 10% to 20% of the size of the library in iCloud. So, if you can afford to have 20GB of optimised photos on your iPhone, I would not let the iCloud Library grow much more than 200GB, or Photos will not even be able to create optimised versions on your device and you will only be seeing blank thumbnails.


You should also plan ahead, how you want to backup your photos, once you are using "Optimise Storage". The iCloud Backup of the device does not include the photos anyway, because they are already stored in iCloud. The device backup on a computer with iTunes or the Finder can include photos, even with iCloud Photos enabled, but if you are using "Optimize" the full versions of your photos are not all on your device, and the backup on the computer will also no longer include your photos. You will have to very careful, never to delete accidentally photos that are important to you, because they are no longer included in the backups. How to back up an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch be able to Recover Accidentally, Permanently Deleted Photos - Apple Community




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Need help with “optimize iPhone storage” consequences

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